By Antigoni Zachari / info@eurohoops.net
Five NBA rings in with the Los Angeles Lakers, one of the biggest influences in the sport and somehow deeply connected with Europe! These are a few expressions to sum up part of Kobe’s life.
Mi chiamo… Kobe!
It was back in In 1984, when, after ending his NBA career, that the elder Bryant took his family to Italy, where he played in the Italian League. The -then- 6-year-old Kobe started becoming entwined with football and basketball in the Mediterranean country, before returning home, Philadelphia, in 1991.
It was in Italy where he learned the “fundamentals” of the game, as he stated to Bussiness Insider: “Learning basketball outside the U.S. was actually a huge advantage because it taught me to rely on fundamentals, not athleticism”, he explained.
Apart from all that, 39-year-old Bryant is an avid Italian speaker! He took up the language in grade school as a means to communicate his with classmates during sports activities.
His roots and evolvement surely explain a lot about his liking towards European basketball, which had the Italians speculate for many years that he may close his playing days in their country.
“I just think European players are just way more skilful,” Kobe told ESPN once. “They are just taught the game the right way at an early age. … They’re more skilful. It’s something we really have to fix. We really have to address that. We have to teach our kids to play the right way.”
After all one of his closest friends and teammates was none other that European and Spanish icon, Pau Gasol.
Through the years of his career as a player, Kobe has toured around Europe to spread his message. Italy, the Netherlands in 2016, even Greece a few years back.
It was in the Greek capital where in 2011 he met with Olympiacos‘ Vassilis Spanoulis, during a Nike event.
And of course, Spain deserves a special mention – and photo.
After all, that’s been said, we feel like we can light-heartedly call Kobe a… European!
Tonight, every basketball fan can take a moment to admire his jerseys going up in the Staples Center’s rafters, a reminder of a successful and prosperous career.